There seems to be a lot happening in Indonesian at the moment which may or may not bode well. There are mixed messages on the corruption front (see below), gangsters, both civil and military, on the prowl, power plays for overall control of the military and a realignment (reinforcement?) of the military link between Indonesia and the USA.

A view that Jakartass shares is that the common link is greed. Read the following extracts from local news sources and note the Papua connection.

Indonesia Seeks Kissinger's HelpPresident Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has reportedly asked controversial former US state secretary Henry Kissinger to help reduce negative views of Indonesia in America.

At his press conference in Singapore, SBY did not mention whether he was referring to negative perceptions of the Indonesian military's brutality, the country's endemic corruption, weak law enforcement or other matters.

Kissinger has long been a controversial figure in Indonesia, as in many other parts of the world, where the US has been accused of undermining democracy to serve its political and business interests.

US government documents declassified last year reveal that Washington supported Indonesia's 1969 brutal takeover of West Papuadespite overwhelming Papuan opposition and United Nations' requirement for genuine self-determination ... and that Kissinger, who was former US president Richard Nixon's national security advisor at the time, played a key role in Washington's ultimate decision to ignore the fact that West Papua's "act of free choice" referendum was a sham.

Kissinger has profited handsomely from his support for the Indonesian takeover, becoming a director of New Orleans-based Freeport-McMoRan Copper and Gold, which operates the world's biggest gold mine in Papua province.

Indonesian Timber Smuggling Racket ExposedA new report released by EIA/Telapak, entitled "The Last Frontier", exposes the international criminal syndicates behind the massive looting of merbau trees from Indonesia's Papua Province. Illegal logging in Papua typically involves the collusion of the Indonesian military, the involvement of Malaysian logging gangs, and the exploitation of indigenous communities.

US government documents declassified last year reveal that Washington supported Indonesia's 1969 brutal takeover of West Papuadespite overwhelming Papuan opposition and United Nations' requirement for genuine self-determination.

Police Certain Munir Poisoned During Flight More than five months after outspoken human rights campaigner Munir died while on a flight from Jakarta to Amsterdam, police have concluded he was poisoned by one his fellow passengers and are now focusing their inquiries on the background of an off-duty Garuda Indonesia pilot.

The pilot now under investigation, Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto, left the plane when it arrived at Changi at 11.40pm Jakarta time and did not rejoin the flight.

Munir's colleagues have said Pollycarpus is no ordinary pilot but may be a covert intelligence operative. Their investigations have revealed that he piloted flights - ostensibly for Christian missionaries - in Irian Jaya (now Papua) province over 1985-87 when the military was attacking separatist rebels in the territory.

FootnotesThese are some other headlines you may have missed this week.

The files reveal that parliament has been systematically misled over government involvement in bribery, which stretched across the world, from Venezuela to Saudi Arabia to Indonesia and has involved "commissions" of up to 100% on the contract price.

President Again Vows to Combat CorruptionPresident Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has yet again reiterated his commitment to combating bureaucratic corruption and other hindrances to badly needed foreign investment.'I don't care' about graft report: Minister Government officials appeared indifferent when responding to a survey by Transparency International Indonesia (TII), which ranked Jakarta and the customs office most corrupt institutions.

"I don't care," was the simple response of Minister of Finance Yusuf Anwar, who oversees the customs service, on Thursday when commenting on the survey findings.